The Valkyrie (Rogue Cheney Love Story)

Chapter 69

Vivian's P. O. V:

"I still don't understand—what are you trying to tell me, Erza-nee?" I ask into the device Gray gave me, as Natsu, Lucy, the Exceed and I sit cross legged on the floor.

"I'm a spy. Give me some credit! You think I would join some creepy Zeref cult?" Gray cuts in indignantly, startling me and Natsu. "It's time to get moving. We'll explain everything on the way."

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As we ride to the town on large Jaguars, Erza is currently explaining everything as we ride. "Several months ago, Jellal asked me to do a favour for Crime Sorciere. I was to investigate Avatar. Discover their connection to Zeref. The trail grew cold, and I just happened to reconnect with Gray. It ended up being a lucky break."

I ask, "How are we still hearing her?"

"We've got a portable communication lacrima. Anyway, after our last fight, this pattern broke out all over me. So I went to Porlyusuca to see if she could help," Explains Gray, riding in the front. "As you saw, now I'm able to make it appear and disappear whenever I want."

Erza continues, "So after we'd discussed our current situation, it was obvious we needed to come up with a plan to work together."

As Natsu and I ride on opposite sides of Gray, he says, "It was fate. Of course, I would do anything for Erza. Not only that, I wanted to get my hands on the book of E. N. D. My dad's last wish was for me to destroy it."

Natsu questions, "Yeah, okay, but why didn't you tell Juvia about this? She's literally worried sick!"

Erza says, "I know. It's because I asked him to keep it a secret. A covert mission such as this needs to be kept confidential. The more people that are made aware of it, the more likely it is to fail. And, also, mere knowledge of the plan could put someone in danger."

Happy asks, "So you kept her in the dark for her protection, huh?"

Natsu mutters, "Still a crappy thing to do!"

Erza says, "I feel bad for what Juvia's had to go through. And, unfortunately for all of us, the mission has lasted much longer than I first anticipated. The situation has changed dramatically. It started out as a routine investigation, but then... we learned of their Diabolical Purification Plan."

"Avatar's gonna wipe out an entire city, because they think it'd summon Zeref. They actually believe the sight of concentrated death like that will attract their dark lord," Gray tells us. "It's up to us to stop that from happening, no matter what it takes!"

I ask, "Why didn't you guys just wipe them out in the beginning? Something like that would've been easy for you and Erza-nee."

Gray replies, "You'd think, but you'd be wrong. After a little digging, we found out Avatar is a way bigger organisation than we thought. I was able to infiltrate to some degree, but only inside a single branch. Each one is kept seperate, and has limited contact with the main headquarters."

"That left no room for error, but we still couldn't let their plan come to fruition," Says Erza. "Our only hope to stop it from happening was to wait until today."

"That's right. The day all the branches will be gathered in one place," Gray states. "Before they kill anyone, we'll destroy them."

Gazing back at the Heartfilia behind him, Gray apologises, "Hey, Lucy, sorry about all that stuff I said earlier, but I knew they were watching me and I couldn't risk blowing my cover right then."

Lucy replies, smiling, "It's fine. I guess I should apologise for slapping you like that."

With a bashful expression, Gray says, "Well, the maid outfit made it a little better, to be honest!"